Fruit and vegetable shredder



Sept. l0, 1940.

H. J. cRAwFoRD 2,214,075

FRUIT AND VEGETABLE SHREDDER Filed Sept. 18. 1939 2 :E'IEQL ,a Patented Sept. 1.0, 1940 nilssutn 'JAN 131942 Urrea stairs 44rf.ersur 'i orric This invention relates to mechanisms for comminuting materials andparticularly to such v a. device for reducing vegetable matter to the state of pulp.

It'is an object of the invention to provide a "device of the character described which will quickly and thoroughly reduce materials oi a `stringy or brcus nature.

Another object of the invention is to provide 2o a device of the type referred to which, by centrifugal action, is self-clearing so that its cutting elements are not likely to become clogged or fouled by accumulated matter during the grating operation. A

l5 A further object of the invention is to provide a mechanism of'the class described which may be easily disassembled for cleaning.

The invention possesses ether objects and features of advantage, someof which will be 20 specifically set forth in the detailed description of the invention hereunto annexed. It is to be understood that the inventionA is not to be limited tothe specific vform thereof herein shown and described as various other embodiments 25 thereof may be employed within the scope of the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing: Figure 1 isa view, for the most part in side elevation, showing the complete pulper of my 30 invention. A portion of the view is broken away and shown in vertical section so as to more clearly disclose the internal construction.

Figure 2 is a vertical sectional view taken in the plane indicated by the line 2-2 of Figure 1.

35 Figure 3 is an end elevational view of a portion of the pulper head. The direction in which the view is takennis indicated by the arrow 3 of Figure 1. t

In detail, the pulper cqgiprises a base l hav- 40 ing rising from one side thereof an` integral bracket 6 stiffened by buttress ribs l which join, respectively, the bracket and .them base Il. A motor 3 is secured by bolts 9 to the top. surface of the base and has its shaft il projecting 45 through a clearance aperture l2 formed in the bracket E5. A suitable switch i3 for starting and stopping the motor 8 may be conveniently mounted in one of the side walls of the base d. Removably secured, by lbolts it, to the bracket :3o t is a mounting plate lsecured to ,which isay tubular pulper housing llhaving an intake hop-k per i8 rising from the upper surface thereof and an outlet spout IS projecting -angularly from the bottom surface thereof. Coinciding with the intake hopper and outlet spout are apertures in the (Cl. Mii-123) l wall of the pulper housing H so that the interior of the housing is in communication with the hopper and spout. Formed adjacent the outer end of the pulper housing is a transverse slit, eX- tending a little more than half way around the 5 circumference of the housing, in which is slidably mounted a sheet metal gate 2! forming a closure for the end of the housing. The gate isl provided with a projecting lug 22 apertured to receive a pin 23 fixed in ears 24 formed on the l0 housing so that the gate may be pivotally moved v from closed to open positions, as shown in Figure 8, so as to expose the interior of the housing, and is also provided with an extension 26 which forms a. handle for facilitating movement of the gate. A bead lfformed in the lower half of the internal periphery of the housing ll, seals the' gate where the latter abuts the aforementioned periphery.

Secured to the motor shaft l l, in any suitable manner such as by the key 28 shown, is a cylindrical rotor 29, constructed of wood or metal as desired, having a plurality, 'preferably eight, of circumferentially spaced longitudinally eX- tending grooves cut in the periphery thereof in which are forcibly pressed metal cutter blades il. These blades, as is clearly shown in Figure i, may conveniently `be short sections of saw blades arranged so that the teeth of successive blades are staggered with relation to those of 30 its neighbors. It will be noted in Figure 2 that the rotor 29 and the bore of the housing Il are not concentric, the rotor being slightly oif center so that the outer ends of the cutter blades 3l closely approach the inner periphery of the housing adjacent the opening of the outlet spout. This constructionfit has been found, produces more rapid pulping of materials than is the case when the rotor and bore are concentric.

In operation, material to be pulped is placed in the intake hopper I8 and the motor 8 is started.' Rotation of the r'otbr 29 will cause the toothed cutter blades 3-I to abrade minute particles from the material and to carry these particles ahead of the blades toward the outlet spout lil through which they are discharged into` a suitable receptacle placed under the spout. It will. be seen that, since the -rotor revolves at the high speed of about l'lllfrevolutions per minute, centrifugal force acting'on the particles of ma- 50 'terial will tend to forcibly throw the latter into the -outlet spout so that, at all times, the cutter blades will be cleared and the likelihood of the pulper becoming clogged is reduced to an absolute minimum. It will. also be seen that -the pulper may be easily cleaned since the passage of a small amount of water into the pulping. housing through the inlet hopper will quickly y wash, from the pulpingl chamber, all particles' of material remaining therein after the pulping has been completed. In the event that the material being comminuted is sticky, or otherwise difficult to remove the water as explained above, the operator need only disengage the two bolts M from the mounting plate I6, whereupon the housing l1 and its attachments may be removed as a unit thus baring the rotor. The parts may then be separately cleaned in any effective manner. It will'be evident that the entire housing' l1, the rotor 29, and the cutter blades 3| may be constructed of such material as stainless steel, Monel metal or the like so that' the'possibility of harmful metallic oxides coming in contact with foodstuffs that are being pulped is obviated. Having thus described my invention, -what I claim as novel and desire to secure by Letters Patent is: Y

1. AV pulper comprising a base, a bracket rising from a side'of said base, said bracket having therein an aperture, a motor mounted on sajid base having a rotatable shaft passing through said bracket aperture, a mounting plate removably secured to said bracket, an axially horizontal tubular housing secured to said' mounting plate in eccentric relation to the axis housing and having in the bottom thereof an outlet opening through which pulped material mai7 be discharged from said housing, a gate pivotally mounted Von and for closing an end of said hous' ing, a cylindrical rotor secured to and rotatable with said motor shaft within said housing, said rotor having a plurality of axially parallel, circumferentially spaced, slots in the periphery thereof, and cutter blades secured in said slots, each of said cutter blades having spaced teeth formed in an edge thereof.

2. A pulper comprising a base, a bracket rising.

from a side of said base, said bracket having therein an aperture, a motor mounted on s'aid base having a rotatableshaft passing through said bracket aperture, a mounting plate removably secured to said bracket, an axially horizontal tubular housing secured to said mounting plate in eccentric relation to the axis of said motor shaft, said housing having, in the top thereof, an inlet opening through which material to be pulped may be introduced into said housing, in the bottom thereof, an outlet opening through which pulped material may be discharged from said housing and, in an end thereoff* a .circumferentially extending slot, a gate pivotally mounted on and for closing an end of said housing, said gate being positioned for movement axially transversely of said housing and through said circumferential slot, a cylindrical rotor secured to and rotatable with said motor shaft within said housing, said rotor having therein a plurality of parallel, circumferentially spaced, slots in the periphery thereof, cutter blades secured in said rotor slots, each of said cutter blades having spaed teeth formed in an edge thereof, and vthe teeth of alternate cutter blades being offset, axially of the rotor, with respect to the cutter teeth of adjacent cutter blades.

HUGH JAMES CRAWFORD. 

